Black Takes Black
by JollyMyRoger
Summary: There's a new dark magic user in Storybrooke, and Killian Jones has a plan to save Emma from the new danger threatening them all


**A/N: This is written as a birthday gift to the marvelous Maggie! Happy 20th, Maggie! I love you!**

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"I need the locket."

"You're gonna have to be more specific than that, dearie," Gold replied offhandedly to Snow White. He figured which locket she had a need for, but wanted to make her ask it. That was simply his way, making those who came to Rumplestiltskin for a mystical solution for their problems state their desperate desire to him, it was petty but who gave a damn.

"My mother's magic locket, Gold. I need it back and it's mine anyway, you can't even open it," Snow sighed exasperatedly at him. Oh she wasn't being any fun today, but with this situation and how extremely useless the locket was to him, quite understandable.

Without turning, Gold extended his hand towards her, the little black locket dangling from its tarnished chain. "Remember, you have to say the words, and good luck with your little plan, your last one with Regina's mother did work out splendidly, so what do you have to worry about?" Gold finished with an ironic little tease, smiling as she snatched the locket from him and quickly made her way out of the shop. As much as he was toying with Snow, he did hope her plan, well...his plan, worked out. Gold was not going to enjoy what measures he would have to take if the pirate's plot ended up with the man in one.

Fifteen minutes later and Snow found Killian in the clocktower with his spyglass. He smiled tightly as he turned towards her. "You got the bloody thing?" he ventured.

Snow nodded to him and extended the locket towards him, he took the chain and then she spoke very clearly, "I, Snow White, relinquish my ownership of the Locket of Stolen Whispers to you, Killian Jones, with no desire for it to be returned and only the wish that it hold your quiet dealings closely inside and safe from a thief's clever fingers." The locket swung away from her then, spinning towards Killian, and she released the chain.

He nodded towards her and then cracked it open, blinking in surprise and flipping the locket over to empty its contents into his palm. Snow's slight awe of the way he was able to do so much with a single hand was quickly swallowed when he extended his hand towards her and she saw the contents of the locket. Her eyes blurring, she took out the small piece of carved wood that was inside; a tiny woodcut of her mother and her, carved magically by a fairy for her mother's birthday one year.

"Do-d'you have it, Killian?" she sniffed.

He nodded and then plunged his hand into a pocket, quickly placing an item inside the locket, closing it shut with a surprisingly deep snap, and placing it around his neck. "Everything's according to plan, Snow, I promise," he said simply. Patting her on the shoulder as he passed, Killian headed down the clocktower steps.

He had left Snow his spyglass, so she took it up and started to observe the town. Snow had put all her faith in the pirate and now was the moment of triumph or defeat. He was the only one who could hope to have a chance though, David had even admitted it. She was hoping he and Henry were having fun at home, she needed to see this part through before she joined them. "My poor girl," she whispered to the sky.

Killian was not overly confident with the chances of his plan succeeding, even with the two enchantments he had managed to acquire. The biggest problems facing him was finding his quarry and making sure he had the resolve to do what needed to be done. Killian could swear up and down that he did until he was blue in the face, but none of that mattered until he actually got himself in the situation. Killian wasn't an idiot, he knew exactly what his track record with success had been ever since Emma had first bested him. This time, though, he was going to have to succeed on the first try and not work a failure into a victory. Everyone was depending on him.

Fifteen minutes later and he had finally caught sight of his quarry, she was moving down one of Storybrooke's main roads at a slow enough pace that Killian figured he could get ahead of her. He darted down and alley and began moving down them with a surety that bespoke familiarity, he was gaining on the woman just quickly enough that Killian thought he could overtake her before the alleys ended and it was open road. Once he had finally overtaken her, Killian grabbed a loose bottle from the ground and hurled it in a tall arch over the nearest building before he darted down an alley that would put him directly in front of her. His distraction worked and she turned towards the bottle as it smashed into the pavement not five feet from her, whirling back around as Killian strode out in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing here, Hook?" Emma demanded, one hand rising up and conjuring a fireball achingly familiar to the one that the Crocodile had tried to blast Killian with after he had shot Belle.

Killian smirked at her as he answered, "Oh not a lot, just came to see if you felt like playing nice yet, but I guess your little addiction to magic's sunk that hope, love."

"Excuse me? Am I seriously being judged by a pirate who's obsessed over killing an immortal demon sorcerer for three hundred years because I'm using magic now?" she remarked with a cruel lilt to her tone.

Killian smiled darkly and took a few steps closer to her, stopping when he noted she was about to move back from him, he had made it to where a good lunge would mean he could catch hold of her. "The word you're looking for, love, is abusing. Not using, abusing," Killian corrected her.

Emma laughed once before replying, "I'm not your love, Hook."

Killian took another step forward, worrying his chin with his hand for a moment before returning his hand to his pocket, then he looked up and met Emma's eyes, her beautiful blue eyes that did so many things to him. "Oh you are, love, you are the only one I ever will have. It may not be reciprocated, but I'm a hopeful son of a bitch," he admitted.

Emma looked at him incredulously and lowered her hand, the fireball dissipating as she stared at him, he could have sworn he saw pity in her eyes. Killian didn't give her a chance to react, however, lunging forward her caught her arm with his hook, the magic flaring out and binding them both. He whipped his hand out and cast the bean down onto the ground, his mind screaming out a single place as it began to shine. Emma thrust a hand at him, meaning to blow him away with magic, but whatever her spell was, the enchantment placed on his coat worked and it blew past him harmlessly.

"Sorry, love, but I'm not going to let you ruin yourself," Killian yelled as the portal cracked open and swallowed them into its whirling vortex.

Hours, minutes, days, or seconds later and they fell out of the portal, slamming into the ground. For a moment, it was old times again as they pulled themselves up to stand together. But then the moment broke and Emma ripped her arm out of his hook, the magic having worn off but it served its purpose quite well.

"I hope you're ready to pay the price for that, Hook," she growled at him, raising her hand to no doubt conjure up another fireball and blast him to cinders. He patiently watched as nothing happened with that or any other spells. The fact that Emma relied on magic now instead of simply hitting him with something was such a disgrace to how ferocious she was. Giving up on magic, she finally screamed at him, "What the hell did you do to me!?"

"Not a thing, love, I wouldn't ever dare," he said, affecting a wounded expression and pressing his hand over his heart. "I did, however, take you somewhere. A land without magic, well, one of two in particular," he explained, "And if you want to get back, I'm afraid you're going to have to work on dealing with your magic addiction, because there happens to be exactly one way out of here. I've got another magic bean, but before you club me over the head and try to steal it, it's in this locket." He held up the locket and grinned wickedly at her before continuing, "This happens to be a magic locket, in this world enchantments still work, and the only way it opens is if I tell it to open. You are not getting out of here until you've convinced me you're better."

She simply glared at him for a few minutes, her jaw working furiously. "So where the hell did you take me?" she snarled.

Killian glanced behind him and saw the fog fading, exposing that they were standing on a cliff overlooking the sea that lay behind Emma. "Why only the land that anyone who ever lived has wished to visit," he teased. Before she could snap at him again, he whirled about and threw his arms up in a flourish as the rest of the fog faded and revealed the the vastness of the island they were on, and proclaimed, "Neverland!"


End file.
